


A Case of Bone Heads!

by wsdsrdbw4096



Series: Coolsville Central [4]
Category: Scooby Doo - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Reboot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-11
Updated: 2017-12-11
Packaged: 2019-02-13 09:54:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 16,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12981543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wsdsrdbw4096/pseuds/wsdsrdbw4096
Summary: Sequel to Hyde and Seek and third entry of my Coolsville Central series. Mystery Inc. finds themselves in another mystery when someone disappears at their school and investigates the appearance of a trio of Skeleton Men.Note: All real-life locations depicted or mentioned in the stories are fictionalized.





	1. Introduction and Prologue

**Author's note: Here's the third installment of my _Coolsville Central_ series, folks!**

**As the title suggests, this story utilizes something skeleton-related.**

**One thing I will like to note is that many real-life locations depicted in my stories are fictionalized.**

**I don't own _Scooby-Doo_. Hanna-Barbara Productions and Warner Bros. does.**

* * *

Chapter 1: Introduction and Prologue

_September 8, 2008_

It has been around a year since Coolsville was gripped by Mr. Hyde's destructive rampage and a close-call, during which the gang consisting of Shaggy, Scooby, Fred, Velma and Daphne discovered a key clue that led to the uncovering of Daggett Industries' sinister plot to ruin Blake Enterprises.

After the Hyde incident, the gang's parents each decided that they should build a treehouse to let the kids have something fun to keep their minds out of mystery-solving, which they did eventually.

By this point, Shaggy, Fred, Velma and Daphne are now in their final year at Iwao Takamoto Middle School, attending Grade 8, while Sugie and Madelyn are in Grade 6 at their final year at West Dawsburg Elementary School.

As usual, the gang will hang out together after school at the Malt Shop for dessert, as well as study together either in the library or in their treehouse, discussing homework or other stuff most kids will often discuss about, such as their summer break or going to watch a movie.

However, the treehouse didn't fully served its purpose of keeping each of the gang's minds out of mystery-solving.

As residents of a city infested by monsters or other spooks, it is natural for the kids to feel that the monsters served a purpose of some sort: A purpose that doesn't make the city look good, as Coolsville is apparently the only city in the country that continues to have monster sightings on a regular, almost-daily basis.

With neither City Hall nor the badly crooked police department doing anything to address the city's monster problems, Coolsville was christened with a few new nicknames: "City of Monsters" and the "City of Mysteries."

During the time where the gang will hang out together, they often bring along some mystery books they had either borrowed from the library or had took from their homes.

At times where they hang out together, they will sometimes talk about the mystery books they were reading, as well as sharing each others opinion on what will they do as a detective when facing a difficult choice.

Fred was the person that had the most relentless feeling of getting his hands on a mystery, in part due to his being glued to the  _Mystery and Traps_ magazine every week.

In fact, he was the one that felt the most suspicious about the city's monster problems, feeling that they serve a purpose of covering up something fishy.

Velma had always find herself interested in solving mysteries. She was in fact a fan of Sherlock Holmes, and is always seen reading a  _Sherlock Holmes_ book such as  _A Study in Scarlet_. Her ability to guess out what the famous detective will do next made her the most detective-like in the group.

Daphne was always skeptical of reports of monster sightings, and like her parents, she always believe that "There are no such thing as ghosts."

Whenever there are news of a monster sighting, she always wants to set off to investigate and prove to whoever reported the sighting that the monster or spook is a total fake.

While Shaggy gets pretty chicken-hearted on hearing about spooky legends or monster sightings, as the son of a police officer, he nevertheless had an excited feeling of getting his hands onto a mystery and find out the culprit of those monster appearances.

His father Sam will occasionally mentor him and Scooby on making observations and keeping a sharp eye for anything out of the ordinary, though the main purpose was for them to be able to defend themselves, especially growing up in a dangerous city like Coolsville.

So far, he had used that knowledge while reading his favourite detective comic books, being able to sight clues and deduce who the villain in that story is and the motive.

Speaking of Shaggy's father Sam, he carried on with his work as Assistant to the Director of the Detective Bureau of the Coolsville Police Department.

However, unlike the past year, Sam hasn't been feeling happy about his work, particularly since with Harewood's promotion this past spring, he is now working with a new Director of the Detective Bureau that, well, doesn't exactly share his dynamic with Harewood.

The new Director of the Detective Bureau is filled by Deputy Chief Jason Poilievre "J.P." Miller, who Sam had a rather strained working relationship with.

As a matter a fact, Miller was the Internal Affairs investigator who investigated his actions in the Incident of 1985, when he shot his corrupt former training officer and her husband in self defence after catching them illegally raiding a harbour warehouse and stealing cargo.

After the investigation, Miller initially recommended that Sam be dismissed, though a conferring with then-Captain Strickland lead him to instead recommend that Sam be transferred to New York.

When he was transferred back to Coolsville in 2001, Sam received a greeting from Miller, by then, as inspector, the Assistant to the Director of Internal Affairs.

Miller was warm in welcoming Sam back to Coolsville, although he hinted that he will be keeping a close eye on his actions.

Sam has long suspected that Miller was also dirty like Strickland, though like Gosnell, Miller was smart enough to cover his tracks.

While Miller wasn't aggressive like Gosnell, Sam has learned to deal with the man the same way he will typically use when dealing with Gosnell.

With Deputy Chief Derek Harewood now promoted to Assistant Chief, he's now the Director of Special Operations with a new office at another floor.

Meanwhile, the financial crisis has cast a dark shadow over the upcoming November presidential election, and with the presidential primaries draw to a close, now comes the campaigning and debates.

As Sam read the newspaper at home that morning, he noted an article where a Democrat congressman from Metropolis raising eyebrows with his publishing of an editorial on the Daily Planet, calling for Americans to back the Democrat presidential ticket and slamming the Republican vice presidential candidate as a fraud.

"Politics sure are getting way out of hand." He sighed to himself. "Can't say that I'm surprised."

He then read another article, where it reported that the Democrats have been vocal in their criticism of the current president, particularly with the ongoing war in Iraq and the financial crisis.

"Like father like son." Sam thought to himself with regards to the president. "Dragging us into another needless war in the Middle East. Can't say I'm surprised that there are braindead people who wants our troops to stay there."

The war in Iraq struck a personal tone to Sam. After all, he was deployed to take part in the Gulf War in 1991, during the time when the current president's father was the president.

In spite of his tough on crime stance stemming from his crusade to weed out corruption in Coolsville, Sam has found himself sympathizing with liberal political views, especially with regards to foreign policy, not that he discussed frequently with family or friends.

Shrugging about the recent events, Sam flipped through a few more pages before reaching the international news.

He arched his eyebrows when he read that the day before north of the border, the Prime Minister of Canada has advised the Governor General to dissolve the Parliament of Canada and call an election, to be held in mid-October.

Reading on, he noted that all 308 seats in the House of Commons of Canada and all 120 seats in the Senate of Canada will be up for grabs in this snap election, which can be contrasted to all 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and 33 of the 100 seats of the U.S. Senate being up for grabs.

"I guess Canada doesn't do staggered elections." Sam thought to himself.

Under Canada's electoral system, members of the House of Commons are elected though instant runoff voting while Canadian senators are elected through three different classes.

The first category of senators represents the ten provinces, three territories and the Canadian Capital Territory, where each province is represented by six senators, each territory represented by three and the CCT represented by two, with the 71 senators elected through single transferable vote.

The second category of senators, at 39, are elected nation-wide through a ranked ballot form of proportional representation, which basically is instant runoff voting, but with the political parties on the ballot rather than the individual candidates.

The remaining ten senators formed the third category of senators, where they are elected nation-wide by the indigenous population through single transferable vote.

He also read that Canada has stricter third-party financing rules, in addition to their federal elections commission having the power to draw electoral boundaries.

By contrast, while the Federal Electoral Commission has the authority to decide election rules, ultimately the power of redrawing congressional boundaries fall upon the individual states to decide, in which the majority of states have that delegated to their legislatures, in addition to lax third party financing rules.

The result is gerrymandering being a major issue in the U.S., especially with the incumbents use the advantage to disfranchise voters from voting for their opponents, in addition to what many electoral reformers refer to as "unlimited bribing in politics".

Also, in both the House and the Senate, members are still elected through the traditional first-past-the-post system, which pretty much results in the country's politics largely dominated by the Democrats and Republicans, while north of the border, additional third parties have been gaining ground.

"Canada's democracy sure is far better than ours." Sam thought to himself. "Together with their supreme court, which isn't a political football unlike ours. Oh, the irony when the country 'fighting' for democracy and human rights worldwide has serious issues with its own democracy."

He then put down the newspaper as he checked his watch before getting up from his chair to head to work.

* * *

_September 26, 2008_

That Friday late evening, about three weeks after the first day of school, the school sleeps as the staff members head home for the weekend. The only people left are the three janitors doing clean up in the school.

At around 10 at night, the three janitors had finished their cleaning and were preparing to head home and call it a night.

As the trio gathered at the main entrance, one of the janitors said, "Well guys, I'm just going to go down to lock the storage room door down at the gym and then we'll clock out."

"Good idea, Hank." One of the other two janitors replied.

The storage room door at the gym was unlocked during the entire evening so the janitors could get their cleaning supplies and equipment.

As Hank made his way down to the gym alone, he didn't notice a figure was watching him descending down the stairs in the dark shadows.

Meanwhile, one of the other two janitors said, "Jed, I think I'm going to go use the washroom for a leak for a sec."

"Sure Jake, just don't take too long." Jed replied.

Several minutes later, Hank had returned from the gym. He had an odd look on his face.

"What's the matter?" Jed asked.

"I don't know why I felt like someone was watching me. Did either you or Jake followed me?"

"No. Jake said he had to go use the washroom, so I don't know about him." Jed replied.

"Speaking of Jake, when did he left?"

"A few minutes after you went down the stairs. In the meantime, what is taking him so long?"

"I have no idea. Might have something to do with his stomach."

"He said he had to go take a leak, and no guy takes a leak for several minutes."

"Well, we better go check the washroom, then."

There was only one washroom opened for the night-shift janitors in the entire school building, and neither of the men have the washroom keys, nor have the knowledge to pick locks.

Soon, the two men arrived at the washroom and entered.

"Jake?" Hank called out. There was no response.

"Anybody there? Hello?" Jed called out. Turning to Hank, he added, "That's strange. Jake will never leave to use the washroom and then never come back."

As the duo look around, Hank's eyes caught onto a small note on one of the stalls.

"Hey Jed, I found something." He said.

Immediately, Jed went over and picked up the note. It read:

"To the meddlers that are still working at this school:

Back off from the school's property, or the Skeleton Men will make you disappear!

Signed, the Skeleton Men"

Soon, Jed found the flashlight Jake was using. Jake was nowhere to be seen.

"Nuts. That legend about the Skeleton Men may be true, after all!" Hank remarked as Jed recovered Jake's flashlight after the fruitless search for Jake.

* * *

**What will happen next? Stay tuned, and p** **lease read and review!**


	2. The police investigation

Chapter 2: The police investigation

_September 27, 2008_

That morning, Sam was reading the weekend newspaper at the dining room table after finishing his breakfast. The first thing that caught his attention was the headline of the paper, which read:

"IWAO TAKAMOTO MIDDLE SCHOOL SKELETON MEN LEGEND TRUE?

Disappearance of school janitor at the middle school prompts speculation on ghostly legend"

Sam narrowed his eyes at the headline and looked up at his wife Wendy, who was doing the dishes.

"Wendy, you may want to take a look at this." Sam said to her.

Wendy came over after putting a plate away and Sam nodded at the newspaper.

She gasped after reading the headline of the newspaper, noting that the disappearance took place at Shaggy's middle school.

"I don't believe it, Sam." Wendy said after reading the headline. "How could something like this happen?"

"Beats me." Sam replied with a shrug. "One thing for sure is that Norville is going to have to be vigilant at school for the next while."

However, before he could continue, the telephone rang.

Swiftly, Sam went over to answer it. "Hello?"

"Morning sir." It was Sergeant McCormick at the other end of the line. "I sincerely hope I did not interrupt your morning, sir."

"Don't worry about it, Nelson." Sam replied. "What have you got?"

The Major Crimes Division Homicide Unit is currently covering for the skeleton crew on duty at Dawsburg Division, and he then remembered that the skeleton crew has caught four cases during the week, leaving McCormick and his junior partner Hughes to take the case when the two janitors reported the disappearance to the police.

"Not a lot, sir." McCormick replied. "The night-shift janitors were about to finish their shift when one of them decided to go relieve himself in the only washroom that is open for them. He then disappears and when his two co-workers went to investigate when he failed to return, they discovered his flashlight and a note in the washroom. The man was nowhere to be seen."

"I see. Who else is at the scene besides you and Nathaniel?" Sam asked.

"Lieutenant Waddel, sir. He's currently conferring with Captain Stephenson." Nelson replied.

As Sam carries on with his conversation with McCormick, Shaggy and Sugie had just entered the dining room for their breakfast with Scooby.

As the trio enjoys their breakfast, Wendy spoke to Shaggy. "Norville, I think it will be best if you and your friends can stay out of the school's playground for the next few days."

"Like, why's that, Mom?" Shaggy asked.

"Apparently, someone has disappeared last night at your school. Your father's investigators are currently investigating the case." Wendy replied.

Shaggy and Sugie both shared a look with Scooby and they swallowed.

* * *

Later after breakfast, Shaggy, Sugie and Scooby met with their friends at the tree house their fathers helped build in the front yard of their house this past spring.

"I heard that someone disappeared at our school last night, gang." Fred said as they were gathered in the main room of the tree house.

"Like, yeah." Shaggy nodded. "My father's got investigators working on that right now."

"The newspaper said something about a legend of the 'Skeleton Men'. Is it possible that they were behind the disappearances?" Madelyn asked.

"Like, it mentioned the note those janitors found in the washroom, warning them to stay out of school grounds. We probably should do the same." Sugie replied.

"There's no such things as live skeleton men, Sugie." Daphne said calmly. "Besides, just because that note was left on the ground doesn't fully meant that the so-called 'Skeleton Men' are responsible for the disappearance of that janitor."

"Well, Maggie does have a point, Daph." Shaggy said. "Our mother told us to stay out of the school's playground for now until they get to the bottom of this."

"True." Daphne nodded.

"What should we do in the meantime, though?" Fred asked. He seemed quite determined to investigate the case on his own.

"Like, I think we should at least take Scoob out for a walk." Shaggy suggested.

"Good idea, Shag." Daphne agreed.

"And perhaps walk by the school and see if we can find anything." Fred added.

* * *

Soon, the gang were out on a walk through the neighbourhood and were near their elementary school when they ran into Sergeant McCormick, who was doing a neighbourhood canvass with his partner.

"Ah! Norville, Maggie, how are you kids doing?" The detective asked.

"Like, we're doing alright, uh, Uncle Nelson." Shaggy replied as he and Sugie shook their father's trusted detectives hand.

"What brings you two and your friends here?"

"Like, we're bringing Scooby out for a walk." Sugie smiled.

"I see." McCormick nodded before adding, "In the meantime, I strongly suggest you kids stay out of school grounds other than during school time."

"Is it because of that disappearance, sir?" Fred asked curiously.

"Yes." McCormick replied. "It's rather dangerous for kids like you to be hanging around at a place near a scene of a crime without your parents, so I suggest you kids take a different route to walk Scoobert."

As he finished speaking, his partner Detective Hughes came to him with a man.

"Nelson, I've got this gentleman who claimed that he might have saw something odd last night near the school." Hughes said to him.

"Awesome." McCormick nodded before turning back to the group. "Well, I've got some work to do, kids. Stay safe and have a nice day."

"Like, you too, Uncle Nelson." Shaggy nodded.

After McCormick and his partner left together to question the witness, Shaggy turned to his friends. "Like, Uncle Nelson does have a point in asking us to stay away from our school for now, guys. Let's take a different route, just to be safe."

"But what about the legend?" Fred asked.

"Well, Shaggy's right about taking a different route to be safe. And besides, I don't want him or Sugie to get into trouble with their dad, and I'm pretty sure that none of you guys wants to get into trouble with your parents." Daphne replied, agreeing with Shaggy's idea.

"You got that right, Daphne." Velma agreed as her sister Madelyn nodded in agreement.

Turning back, Sugie said, "Let's head back to the treehouse."

"Roaky." Scooby nodded as the group of children turned to head back to their treehouse.

As Fred followed the group back to the treehouse, he turned to take one last look of their school before walking away with his friends.

* * *

**Please read and review.**


	3. The legend

Chapter 3: The legend

_September 29, 2008_

The gang spent the rest of the weekend like they spent all weekends during the school year. They've hung out in their tree house to do some homework together, and they will chat about certain topics.

However, neither of them, particularly Fred, was able to keep the mysterious disappearance at their school out of their minds.

That morning, the gang arrived at school together.

As the remaining group made their way down the hallway to their homeroom classroom, Velma braced herself for any possible encounter with Red Herring and his gang.

Sure enough, a paper ball was soon thrown towards her, but Shaggy unexpectedly reached his left hand out and caught the paper ball.

"Zoinks!" Shaggy exclaimed as the paper ball hit his hand.

"Oh, come on!" A voice shouted from behind them as Daphne complimented, "Great catch, Shaggy!"

"And right on time, too." Fred added as they turned around to face Red Herring and his gang.

"I see that Shaggy-guy caught the paper ball intended for that geek." Red smirked as he and his gang approached the group.

"And I'm glad he did, Red." Fred said as he and Shaggy crossed their arms. "How many times do we have to tell you troublemakers to stop picking on Velma?"

"One billion times, Jones." Red laughed. He then spotted the tube of apple sauce in Shaggy's hand and shouted, "Give me that!"

Before Shaggy could protest, Red grabbed the tube and aimed it at the group, but unaware that the tube cap was loose, he squeezed the tube too soon, causing the sauce to splatter onto his face.

The group started to laugh, and so did the two boys that formed his gang.

"Hey! That's not funny!" Red protested.

The trio then walked away from the scene, with Red trying hard to wipe the sauce off his face while his gang continued to laugh at him.

"Like, I guess I've just wasted a tube of apple sauce." Shaggy remarked as they watched Red and his gang walk away.

"Well, at least it stopped that troublemaker Red Herring from picking on poor Velma, Shag." Daphne said.

Shaggy nodded in acceptance as he tossed the paper ball into the nearby paper recycling bin.

At this moment, the gang ran into a creepy-looking janitor, who was mopping the nearby floor.

"The school seemed to be quite empty for a school day." He observed as he saw the gang.

"What makes you think that, uh, Mr. Glass?" Fred asked the janitor.

"A lot of parents are scared. Scared that their kids will be the next victims of this schools 'Skeleton Men', so they decided to have their kids stay home for the day." Mr. Glass replied.

"Skeleton Men?" Velma asked curiously. "Who are they?"

"They're the living skeletons of three former students of a boarding school that used to stand at where this school is now." Mr. Glass began.

"Boarding school?" Fred raised an eyebrow as the gang shared a look with each other.

"That's right." Mr. Glass nodded. "These three particular students were very mischievous and they disappeared one night after hanging out at their former boarding school that was closed down."

"Zoinks!" Shaggy remarked.

"Legend has it that their skeletons have haunted the place since their disappearance, and even after the place was torn down to make way for this school, reports of sighting of the skeletons continued, particularly during the night." Mr. Glass continued.

The janitor then place the mop onto the bucket on a cart with cleaning supplies and added, "Now, if you will excuse me, I've got some window-cleaning to attend to."

With that, the janitor walked away, pushing the cart as he went.

"You know, that janitor Mr. Glass sure looks creepy." Daphne commented after the janitor was out of earshot.

"Do you think he may have anything to do with the mysterious disappearances?" Shaggy asked.

Before any of them can answer Shaggy's question, there were some screaming coming from a nearby classroom.

"Jeepers! What was that?" Daphne asked.

"I have no clue, but I think we better go check." Fred replied before taking off, followed by his three friends.

Soon, the four rushed into the classroom where the screaming have came from. They immediately realized that the screaming came from Ms. Stewart, their science teacher.

"Anything wrong, Ms. Stewart?" Fred asked their science teacher.

"Yes. The toy ship I often use for demonstration of floating on water in classes is missing!" She was gesturing at the desk drawer where she normally kept the toy ship.

"Like, is there anything else missing, Ms. Stewart?" Shaggy asked.

"That's the weird part: Nothing else was stolen, not even the valuable gold watch I've kept in my desk." Ms. Stewart said.

"Now, that's funny." Fred amused. "Why will someone want to steal a toy ship?"

"Could it be possible that any of the students in your class may have stolen it?" Daphne asked.

"No. I always stay at my desk to do some grading of assignments and homework after school, when the students are gone. Plus, the ship was in the drawer when I closed and locked it last Friday." The teacher explained.

"Like, I hope that whoever stole that toy ship returns it soon, Ms. Stewart." Shaggy nodded.

"Yes. I hope so too." Ms. Stewart sighed.

After the conversation with their science teacher, the gang were back on the hallway.

"One thing that bothers me is why will someone go through the trouble to steal a common toy? Can't they get one in the toy shop?" Fred wondered out loud.

"Beats me." Shaggy shrugged. "I did have something that has been going through my mind since Ms. Stewart told us about the theft: Could it be somehow connected to that disappearance from last Friday and, like, the appearances of the so-called 'Skeleton Men'?"

As he made the latter remark, Shaggy used quotation marks as he referred to the Skeleton Men.

"That's a good question, Shag." Daphne nodded.

Just then, Velma exclaimed, "Jinkies!"

"Velma said 'Jinkies'!" Fred exclaimed. "But she doesn't speak much!"

"That's because I just saw something, guys." Velma said and gestured down the deserted hallway.

Down the hallway, the gang saw a suspicious-looking figure looking around after reaching an intersection between two hallways.

Not noticing the kids watching him, the figure turned and walked down the hallway heading to the stairwell.

Quickly, the gang walked over to that intersection and looked down the hallway towards the figure.

The figure made his way towards the stairway in front of him and headed downstairs. As he did so, Shaggy noticed that he was holding an object.

"Like, he's holding something, guys." He said quietly. "Looks like a toy boat to me."

"Could it be the missing toy ship that was taken from Ms. Stewart's classroom?" Daphne asked.

"There's only one way to find out, gang." Fred replied. "Let's follow him."

And so, the gang stealthily followed the suspicious-looking figure down the stairway, with Shaggy noting that they've got ten minutes before class starts.

* * *

**Wonder what will the gang discover? Please read and review!**


	4. A meeting and the chase

Chapter 4: A meeting and the chase

After reaching the basement, the gang quietly followed the man as he made his way through the hallway through the dimly-lighted area of the basement.

The man then entered a door leading to the large room where the school's garbage and recycled items (Old papers, bottles and cans etc.) are processed and placed in the large dumpsters, to be picked up by the garbage trucks and recycling trucks once every two weeks.

The man left the door opened as he entered, and so the gang can peek in without the need to open the door.

In the room, the gang can see the man and another man having a chat in the room. Shaggy, who will occasionally observe the school staff during school time, doesn't recognize either of the two men in the room, even though they wore the uniform issued to school janitors by the public school board.

"Like, I never saw any of those two men before in school, gang." He whispered to his friends.

Fred nodded as they peeked in to check out the two men that were in the room.

"I've got the toy boat the chief requested, Gabe." The man said as he showed the object to the man known as Gabe. "It was easy for me to pick those locks last Friday evening, and those dumb janitors didn't even bother checking when they went by the classroom where I got the toy."

"Excellent." Gabe nodded as he took the toy from the man. "I hope this is the one with the Jupiter in it."

As the two men were chatting, Fred whispered, "So those men were responsible for the theft of Ms. Stewart's toy ship. What for?"

"And who is their chief?" Daphne added.

"And, like, what do they mean by 'the Jupiter'?" Shaggy asked.

Just then, he felt the presence of someone behind him.

Thinking it was Scooby, Shaggy turned to his back to look.

"Like, not now, Scoob-." Shaggy said, only to find a living skeleton standing behind him. "Oh, it's just a skeleton, gang."

The others nodded as Shaggy turned back to peek through the door to view the room. A brief moment went by before they all realized something.

"A SKELETON?!" They all asked before turning back again, finding themselves face-to-face with the living skeleton who had its arms out in a menacing fashion.

"Get lost!" The living skeleton hissed.

"Zoinks! The Skeleton Man!" Shaggy shouted as he remembered that Scooby wasn't even with them.

"Run!" Fred shouted, and the gang took off while the Skeleton Man give chase!

The Skeleton Man chased the gang down the hallway as the gang tried to lose him and get to their class.

Soon, they got to a section of hallway with five doors on both sides. Immediately, they took the first door on the left, with the Skeleton Man following behind.

Eventually, the gang raced across the hallway from the second door on the left, and Fred stopped.

"Hold it, gang, this doesn't make any sense." He said.

"What doesn't make any sense?" Daphne asked.

"Didn't we enter the first door on the left?" Fred said as he gestured towards the door they had entered just a few seconds ago.

"And?" Velma asked.

"How did we end up coming out of the second door on the left?" Fred continued as he gestured at the door they had just exited. He remembered that there was a wall in the room they had entered that was supposed to separate the two doors.

Just then, Shaggy saw the Skeleton Man racing out of the door and said, "Like, who cares, man? Run!"

Immediately, the gang took off again and entered the second door on the right with the Skeleton Man close behind.

Soon, the Skeleton Man exited the third door on the right, and he was chased by the gang.

After that, the parties involved in the chase split up as every one of them simultaneously enters and exits a random door, racing across the hallway in different directions. The scene soon becomes messed up with all of the people racing around.

Eventually, the gang regrouped and Shaggy glanced at his watch.

"Zoinks! We've got a minute to go before class starts, gang!" He exclaimed when he saw the time.

"Then, let's go!" Fred replied, and they took off down the hallway before the Skeleton Man can catch up.

* * *

The gang were lucky to be on time for their first period class. Shortly after they arrived at their classroom, they had to stand by their seats for a short while as they catch their breaths from all of the running.

"Man, that was a lot of running!" Shaggy commented when they gathered together for lunch later during lunchtime.

"I'll say." Velma nodded in agreement, having to spend a longer period of time catching her breath due to her short height. "That Skeleton Man seemed eager to keep us away from those two suspicious men."

"I sure wonder what they're up to." Daphne wondered out loud.

"It'll help if we go back and find a clue, gang." Fred said.

"Like, the only clue I don't want to find is that creepy Skeleton Man!" Shaggy commented.

"Well, perhaps we should go back to that place to look around before our afternoon classes begins." Fred declared.

"Good idea, Freddie." Daphne nodded. "Hopefully, we can find some useful clues."

* * *

After finishing their lunches, the gang made their way back to the dumpsters room.

They were cautious in making sure that they don't attract the attention of anyone suspicious, particularly the men they saw earlier in the morning.

This time, the dumpster room was empty, and after making sure that no one is hiding in the room, the gang entered the room to look around for clues.

"Well gang, I was thinking that maybe we should split up, since this room is rather large." Fred announced.

Shaggy and the girls shared a look with each other, as they were worried that one of them might get caught or even kidnapped by the suspicious men.

"Like, may I suggest that we split up in pairs, Fred?" Shaggy asked. "I mean, it'll be dangerous if one of us searches the area alone."

"That's exactly what I was thinking, Shag." Fred agreed. "With those suspicious men on the loose, it'll certainly be dangerous for one of us to search the area alone."

"Good point, Fred." Velma nodded. "So how do we split up?"

"Daph and I will search the left side." Fred said as he gestured towards the left side of the room. "You guys will search the right side."

"That's a good idea, Velma." Daphne nodded.

"Then, let's split up, gang." Fred declared, and the gang split up into two groups and started searching in the dumpster room, with Shaggy noting that they've got twenty minutes before classes start.

* * *

**Wonder what will the gang discover in the dumpster room? Please read and review!**


	5. Another run in and the first clue

Chapter 5: Another run in and the first clue

**(Fred and Daphne)**

Searching at one side of the room, the duo looked around for anything useful.

However, the search in the area was fruitless, as all they've got in the area were dumpsters and some trash or scrap paper or scrap metal that were once part of a can or plastic bottles.

"Well, nothing here of interest so far." Fred commented as he looked around and looked through the scrap paper in one of the dumpsters.

"There's nothing here of interest as well." Daphne said as she looked around. "All we've got here are tin cans, scrap paper and disgusting garbage."

"I suppose we can only hope that Shag and Velms have found something." Fred said as they gave up in the search.

**(Shaggy and Velma)**

On the other side of the room, the trio were looking through the piles of paper and empty plastic bottles and cans.

"Shag, I hope you are having a better luck than me, because I don't see anything of interest." Velma said as she searched through a pile of plastic bottles.

"Like, as long as we don't run into that living skeleton, we should be all right." Shaggy said in reply as he looked through an open garbage bin lid.

Some minutes of searching went by before they heard something coming from the door.

"Zoinks! Did you hear something, Velma?" Shaggy asked in fright as they paused their search. "That noise just came from the door."

"Oh, it's probably Fred or Daphne." Velma replied. "They're searching near the door, as a matter a fact."

"Like, I certainly hope you're right, Velm-" Shaggy was about to continued when he spotted something, took a closer look and added, "Hey! I think I may have something, guys."

"What is it, Shag?" Daphne asked as she and Fred raced over upon hearing Shaggy's announcement.

Shaggy swiftly pointed towards a discarded newspaper headline, which read, "Recent string of toy thefts baffles police"

"Hmmm...That's the newspaper headline from last Monday, Shag." Fred observed when he read the date on the paper.

"Do you think it may be related to the theft of Ms. Stewart's toy ship?" Daphne asked.

"Shag, keep the newspaper page. It might be useful for this mystery." Fred suggested.

"Like, that's what exactly I had in mind." Shaggy nodded as he folded the paper and placed it into his pocket.

Just then, there was a growl coming from behind them.

"Sounds like someone is hungry." Fred remarked. "Could that be you, Shaggy?"

"Like, I may still be hungry, but that growl certainly didn't come from me, Freddie." Shaggy said.

The growl then continued.

"Well, if it wasn't you, Shaggy, then who's growling?" Daphne asked nervously.

The gang turned and looked. The three Skeleton Men were standing right behind them!

"Zoinks! The Skeleton Men!" Shaggy exclaimed.

As the three living skeletons closed in towards the gang, Fred shouted, "Run!"

Immediately, the gang took off running, and the three Skeleton Men give chase!

The gang made their way out of the room and raced down the hallway, and the three Skeleton Men continued their chase.

"Get those meddling kids!" One of them ordered.

The gang soon reached the entrance to the school gym and raced inside.

"Zoinks! Now what?" Shaggy asked.

Seeing some balls, a whistle, a clipboard and a cap nearby, Fred said, "Quick! Get those balls ready!"

When the three Skeleton Men got in, they were immediately greeted by a coach, which was Shaggy, wearing a cap and with a whistle on a necklace and holding a clipboard, in disguise.

"Hello! You guys came just in time for a new round of dodge ball with three volunteers, mister skeletons!" Shaggy said to the three confused Skeleton Men.

As Shaggy turned, Fred shook his head as if he was saying, "That's not what I had in mind, Shag!"

Shaggy quickly give him a look as if he was saying, "Like, just play along and we can get out of this in no time, Fred!"

Turning back to face the Skeleton Men, Shaggy continued, "Sorry, one of the kids didn't seem keen in playing, but that's okay, since we still got two others who are willing to play. Now put these vests on. You three are a team."

He then handed the trio each a vest, and after they put them on, Shaggy signalled them to line up in front of the walls, where he then proceed to line the balls up in a straight line in the middle of the gym.

After making a quick go through on the rules of the game, Shaggy blew his whistle, and the two teams rushed to grab the balls.

Turned out that the girls were able to grab all of the balls in no time, and the duo proceeded to throw their balls all at the three Skeleton Men, with Fred joining in soon.

Each time the balls hit the Skeleton Man, they ended up bouncing back across the line towards Fred and the girls, allowing them to pick them up and continue to hit the Skeleton Men with them.

Eventually, the trio were exhausted by the constant ball-throwing, and the three Skeleton Men looked frustrated as they stormed towards the gang.

"Looks like those kids are good at playing dodge ball, eh?" Shaggy chuckled nervously.

The three Skeleton Men responded by growling angrily at the gang.

At this moment, Shaggy swallowed.

"Like, it's nice of you three to drop in to play dodge ball." He chuckled nervously. "Have a nice day!"

With that, the gang quickly took off running before the Skeleton Men could grab them.

* * *

Soon, the gang managed to lose the Skeleton Men, but as they raced to their classes, Velma started to scratch uncontrollably.

"Are you alright, Velma?" Daphne asked in concern.

"My hand has been acting up since that dodge ball game!" Velma replied. "Since Shag blew the whistle and we went to grab those balls."

At the remark, Shaggy thought of something as his mind travelled back to the dodge ball game they had with the Skeleton Men.

SHAGGY'S FLASH VISION

After blowing the whistle, Shaggy noticed that Velma had made close contact with one of the Skeleton Men while trying to wrestle the ball away from the man.

He also caught a glimpse of the Skeleton Man during the ball game, and it looked like a costume of sorts.

It was then that he realized that the costume appeared to be made of wool, a material he read that some people are sensitive with.

END OF FLASH VISION

"Like, it must be Velma's allergy to wool!" Shaggy snapped his fingers as he took out Velma's allergy cream, which Velma's mother Cassandra had entrusted him with while Velma's not home. "Remember the exact moment you guys went to grab the balls and Velma came into close contact with one of the Skeleton Men?"

"Oh yes, that's right!" Daphne replied as Fred snapped his fingers.

Remembering the moment, they all understood what Shaggy was talking about.

"Jinkies! Are you telling me that those Skeleton Men were simply costumes?" Velma asked as Shaggy applied cream onto her hands.

"Like, that is most likely to be the case, Velms." Shaggy nodded.

"Well gang, it looks like we've found our first clue." Fred nodded. "Thanks to Velma."

"I'm sure there was another way for us to find out on that without triggering my allergy, guys." Velma sighed after Shaggy finished applying the cream on her hand.

"Oh well, now the question is: What did those Skeleton Men want with jewels?" Fred wondered.

* * *

**Jinkies! The first clue has been discovered. What will happen next?**

**Stay tuned, and please read and review!**


	6. An argument and solution

Chapter 6: An argument and solution

Later after school, the gang decided to head home with Shaggy feeling that he may have discovered an important clue in the form of the newspaper page he had picked up earlier during lunch period.

"So how's school today?" Wendy asked as Shaggy and Sugie arrived home.

"Like, it was alright, Mom." Shaggy replied. "Something strange did happen, though."

"What is it, Norville?"

"Like, our science teacher Ms. Stewart's toy ship went missing over the weekend, and we saw a suspicious-looking guy dressed up as a janitor in school holding an object that looked like that missing toy." Shaggy explained.

Their mother raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Now who would want to steal a toy if they can buy it in the toy store?" She asked.

"Beats me." Shaggy shrugged as his sister turned to look at him. "But I did find something interesting."

Shaggy nodded as he took out the newspaper headline he had picked up in the dumpster room.

At this moment, their father Sam have arrived home from work.

"Hiya, Pops." Shaggy said in greeting as his father took off his suit jacket. "How's the investigation into the disappearances?"

"Well, we're still pursuing some leads, Norville." Sam said as he hung his jacket. "Why'd you ask?"

Shaggy then proceeded to tell his father on what he and his friends did in school during the day, including the theft of their science teacher's toy ship, the discovery of the newspaper headline from the past Monday and their encounter with the Skeleton Men.

After the account, Sam nodded thoughtfully.

"Brilliant deduction, Norville." He praised. "That case has certainly tied up the investigators at the robbery table, as well as those investigating the toy thefts and this past Friday's disappearance."

"I thought you'd want to know, Pops." Shaggy nodded.

"However, I don't like how you and your friends took risks like that, Norville." Sam then said as his facial expression turned serious. "You could've gotten yourselves seriously hurt if those men had caught up with you. I thought you'd remember my talk to you about the dangers behind detective work and your promise not to play detective again with your friends."

"But Dad, we did what we could to keep ourselves from getting too close to those Skeleton Men." Shaggy protested.

"Nevertheless, I still don't like how you kids taking that huge risk, especially after what you've told me about what happened to Velma when she came into close contact with those men." Sam continued sternly. "So this is what I want you kids do: Leave everything to my investigators and don't try to play detective again. Understood?"

There was a few moments of silence before Shaggy nodded understandingly.

"Good." Sam nodded. "I'm only asking you this for the sake of your own safety, Norville. Don't get yourself into that kind of situation again."

After Sam got up and headed for his room to change, Sugie turned to Shaggy as Scooby joined them.

"What is it that Pops just spoke to you about, Norville?" She asked her brother.

"Well, it's about what the gang and I did at school today, Mags." Shaggy said.

"What did you guys did?" Sugie asked.

"Like, I'm sure it'll be better if I don't tell you what we did at school, Mags." Shaggy said.

"Why not?" Sugie asked.

"Because..." Shaggy was about to continue when his sister cut him off.

"Because I'm not old enough to understand those things and that they might be dangerous for me?" Sugie asked before folding her arms. "Honestly, Norville. I've expected you to be better than this."

"Ah, it's not that, Mags, it's just that..." Shaggy was about to continue only for Sugie to cut him off again.

"You do remember that I promised you not to tell Mom that you and Scooby ate all the Halloween candies last Halloween, eh?" Sugie asked before her lips formed into a mischievous smile. "Oh, is Mom going to be mad when she finds out that you and Scooby ate all the Halloween candies instead of the raccoons that managed to get into the house through Scooby's doggy door and eat the candies."

"Like, what are you suggesting, Mags?" Shaggy asked nervously.

"Tell me about what you and the gang did at school today, or I'll tell Mom that you and Scooby ate all the Halloween candies." Sugie said simply.

Shaggy looked at Sugie and swallowed before sharing a look with Scooby.

"Well, since Scoob's here and has yet for us to tell him what the gang and I did at school, I suppose there's no harm telling you, Mags." Shaggy sighed in defeat.

* * *

"So your father asked that we drop this investigation?" Fred asked when the gang met in their tree house later that afternoon.

"Like, he's got a point, Fred." Shaggy said. "That cream took about ten minutes to sooth the itchiness Velms was feeling after her close contact with one of those creeps. He really didn't like how we're taking such huge risks in 'playing detective.'"

"Not to mention that he did ask if Norville remembered the lecture he gave him." Sugie added.

Fred glanced at Velma, Madelyn and Daphne, his face indicating a request for their input on the issue.

"Well, I have to agree on the reasoning behind Inspector Rogers' demand." Daphne said. "My Dad had told me about the dangers of working as a detective, especially in a place like Coolsville. He even mentioned how Shaggy and Sugie's father risked his life to save me several years back when I got kidnapped."

**(For more information on the kidnapping, please see _Coolsville Central: Coolsville: Year One_ )**

"Well, like, thanks to Dad's talk with me, I think we should just stand back and relax, because I certainly don't want to run into those creeps again." Shaggy said, with his sister and Scooby nodded in agreement.

"Are you sure, Shag?" Fred asked. "Don't get me wrong. Your father's concerns are well justified, but I really don't like the idea of giving up the case at a time where an important discovery to the case was unearthed."

"Like, but then if we continue and our parents find out on that, we will be in big trouble." Shaggy countered. "You do realize that we promised them not to play detective when they built this tree house this past April, eh?"

"But then if we don't solve this case, then how are we going to prove to our parents that we can stand up for ourselves?" Fred countered.

"Like, if we do get ourselves hurt during the case, then how will that tell our parents on us being able to stand up for ourselves?"

As Shaggy and Fred continued with their arguments, their friends stood by, not sure if they should step in.

Daphne understood why Fred was advocating them doing detective work while Shaggy was more laid back when it comes to that.

Fred's father Skip Jones, as Assistant District Attorney, has a long line of success in overturning criminal charges laid against his clients.

In fact, it is safe to say that Fred's push for them to help the police solve the case came from the fact that his father had severe reservations on the credibility of the Coolsville Police Department.

Meanwhile, Shaggy and Sugie's father, as a police officer, understood the daily challenges faced by law enforcement officers everyday, especially in a city as corrupt as Coolsville.

Daphne knew that Inspector Rogers is fully concerned about the safety of his family and anyone close to him outside of work, particularly the Blakes, thus she understood why he told his children to drop their investigation.

Finally fed up with Shaggy and Fred's argument, Velma decided to step in.

"Okay, guys!" She said loudly. "You are both right, but arguing isn't going to get us anywhere."

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Shaggy asked.

"We carry on with the investigation." Fred answered.

Before Shaggy, Sugie and Scooby could protest, he added, "But, if anything goes wrong, I'll take the blame."

Shaggy turned to Daphne, Velma and Madelyn, who all nodded.

"Same here. We can't let you and Sugie get in trouble alone, Shag, so if the two of you get into trouble with your father, we'll take the blame with you guys." Daphne said.

Shaggy rolled his eyes and sighed. He didn't like the plan, and he can tell that his sister is also surprised by Fred's proposal.

"Like, that's not necessary, Daph. Norville and I don't have any intention to drag you guys into this matter." Sugie said.

"Don't worry, Sugie, we're doing the right thing by not giving up. Do you and Shag honestly think that giving up is the best option?" Daphne asked.

Sugie looked at her brother and Scooby.

Some minutes went by before Shaggy sighed and nodded.

"Like, fair enough, Daph." Shaggy said. "It's getting late, so if we want to crack this case, what are we waiting for?"

"Awesome." Fred smiled. "Like I told you, Shaggy, I'll make sure that nothing goes wrong during the next phase of the investigation."

Shaggy nodded as he glanced at his watch. "Like, if you want to carry on, we might as well as get going now, gang, before supper time."

"Alright, gang." Fred nodded as Sugie prepared Scooby's leash, and within a minute, the gang were out walking Scooby and heading for their school.

* * *

**Please read and review!**


	7. Getting in and the split-up

Chapter 7: Getting in and the split-up

After a ten minute walk with Fred and Scooby Doo leading the way, the gang arrived at the playground right by their school.

There were some children playing in the playground while their parents watches them for obvious reasons. With the news of the school being haunted by three Skeleton Men, it is natural for the parents to be worried about the safety of their children at the school.

While neither of the parents or children in the playground looked familiar, the gang figured that it will be safe if they sneak in with none of them watching.

Seeing that the parents are preoccupied with watching their children, Fred whispered, "Let's sneak into the school, gang!"

Shaggy swallowed as he remarked, "Like, I've got a bad feeling about this."

It appears that Scooby is also having the same feeling, as he soon decided to stop and sit.

"Scooby, what's the matter?" Velma asked concernedly.

"Ri'm not going rin." Scooby replied as he shook his head.

"Why?" Fred asked.

"Re place rooks reepy." Scooby replied.

Fred turned to look at the rest of the gang.

"Like, Scoob prefers to stay out of trouble, but in the same time, if we want to get this over with, let's not waste time by standing around and do nothing, Scoob." Shaggy said with a shrug.

Scooby still refused to move as he continued to shake his head. "Ruh-uh! Ri'm not going rin."

It was Sugie that got an idea that solved the problem.

From her pocket, she pulled out a small package of Scooby's favourite treats and asked, "Will you do this for a small pack of Scooby Snacks?"

Seeing his favourite treats, Scooby's expression brightened as he replied, "Rokay!"

With that, Sugie opened the package and tossed the treats into Scooby's mouth.

After he swallowed them, he licked his lips and added, "Roaky! Ri'm in! Robby-Dooby-Doo!"

"Awesome!" Daphne smiled as they carried on.

During this time, Madelyn asked, "Scooby Snacks?"

"Like, it's Scooby's favourite biscuit-like treats, but Norville and I nicknamed them 'Scooby Snacks' as they're the only dog treats that Scooby actually enjoys eating." Sugie explained.

"I see." Fred nodded as they reached the main entrance to the school.

The doors were unlocked, which was not unusual, as there were after-school activities going on at that time of the day, plus the school's staff normally work until around 17:30. Thus, the gang were able to effortlessly enter the school.

In the main hallway, the janitors were sweeping and mopping the floor as usual. Neither of them seemed to have caught the gang's interest.

That is, until Shaggy's keen eyes caught sight of the janitor Mr. Glass.

"Like, there's Mr. Glass over there, gang." He whispered urgently, pointing towards where the creepy-looking janitor was sweeping the floor.

"Hmmm. He certainly looks suspicious." Fred commented as they hid behind a large support pole and observe Mr. Glass.

Just then, another janitor walked passed Mr. Glass. That janitor was instantly recognized as the suspicious-looking man the gang saw earlier in the morning.

"Zoinks! There's the man we saw this morning!" Shaggy said quietly.

As Shaggy made his comment, Mr. Glass proceeded to follow the suspicious-looking janitor, pushing his cart of cleaning supplies.

"Jinkies! Mr. Glass is following the man!" Velma commented.

"Could it be that he may be involved in this scheme?" Daphne asked.

"There's only one way to find out, gang." Fred whispered before adding, "Let's follow those two men and see what are they up to."

And so, the gang stealthily follows the two janitors, keeping in mind to watch their surroundings as they do so.

The two janitors made their way to the stairwell and headed down the stairs for the basement. The gang did the same quietly, but when they arrived at the bottom of the stairs, neither of the men were anywhere to be seen.

"Now, where did Mr. Glass and that suspicious-looking janitor went?" Madelyn asked.

"I think we've lost them, gang. They could've went down the hallway in either direction." Fred replied as they all looked around.

"What do we do now?" Sugie asked.

"I think we should split up, gang." Fred suggested. "Velma, Madelyn, you girls come with me and we go search this way."

Fred was pointing towards where the gym and the dumpster room are at as he spoke.

Turning to Daphne, the Rogers and Scooby, Fred continued, "Shaggy, Sugie, Daphne and Scooby, you guys go the other direction. Hopefully, either one of us may find those two."

"Like, what do we do if we run into the 'Skeleton Men'?" Shaggy asked.

"Run and shout." Fred replied.

"Don't worry, Shag. Everything will be all right when I'm around." Daphne reassured Shaggy with a smile as she patted his back.

"Plus, we've got Scooby Doo with us, Norville." Sugie added as she rubbed Scooby's back, earning a lick from her pet as a result.

Fred, Velma and Madelyn simply smiled before the gang split up.

Unbeknownst to either of them, two of the Skeleton Men were watching them, and after the split up, one of them said to the other, "Jake, you go get those kids with the mutt while I take care of those meddlers. Can't let them discover what we're doing here in their school, or the whole racket's up and the chief won't like it."

"Right, Gabe." The second Skeleton Man replied before they, too split up and followed the group of kids.

* * *

**(Fred, Velma and Madelyn)**

Unaware that they're being followed, Fred and the Dinkley's made their way down the hallway.

The Skeleton Man that was following them kept making squeaky noises as he quietly followed the trio, prompting Fred and the girls to stop.

"Did either of you girls made the squeaking noise?" Fred asked as he turned to Velma and Madelyn.

"Squeak? Not us!" Madelyn replied as her sister shook her head. "Perhaps it was your sneakers that was making the squeaks?"

"Not mine. They're brand new!" Fred replied. "These sneakers are the ones my father gave me during my 11th birthday, remember?"

Velma and her sister looked. "Oh, okay. Maybe it was just your imaginations, Freddie."

Fred thought for a moment before shrugging. "Well, then let's continue."

The trio continued on walking, and the Skeleton Man continued to follow them, prompting them to stop.

"Fred, you sure got a loud imagination!" Velma commented.

"Well, if it wasn't one of us, then who is it?" Fred asked as they turned to look.

At that moment, the Skeleton Man raised his arms in an aggressive fashion as he said in a sinister voice. "Get lost!"

"Jinkies! The Skeleton Man!" Velma exclaimed in fright, and the trio quickly took off as the Skeleton Man quickly took chase!

The trio immediately made their way around the nearby corner and hid behind the wall while the Skeleton Man continued on down the hallway.

Then, the trio made their way back onto the hallway, heading in the opposite direction.

As they did so, they walked passed a door that was partially opened.

"Say, I wonder what is in that room?" Fred commented as he saw the opened door.

"Well, we better go check." Velma replied as they headed in.

Soon, the trio were inside a small classroom, where there were several documents scattered around.

"Hmmm...What are these documents?" Fred commented as he picked up one.

Velma leaned in to read the picked up document, commenting, "It looks like a shipment receipt of sorts."

Fred looked on and noticed something of significance in the document. After picking up the other papers on the floor, he, Velma and Madelyn figured out the puzzle behind the mystery.

"Jinkies, I think we've gotten to the bottom of the mystery, Freddie." Velma exclaimed.

"Yeah. Now we better find Shaggy, Scooby and the girls and get out of here!" Fred nodded.

Just as Fred was speaking, the door to the small classroom suddenly closed! On the other side, one of the Skeleton Men had used a key to lock the door before leaving.

"Uh, oh!" Fred said as they went to the door and tried to open it. "It's locked!"

"Jinkies! We're locked in!" Velma exclaimed as she and Madelyn joined in with Fred's attempt to pull the door open, to no avail.

"Oh, I hope Shaggy, Sugie, Scooby and Daphne will find us." Madelyn said.

* * *

**Uh oh. This doesn't seem good, now that Fred, Velma and Madelyn are locked inside the classroom.**

**What will happen next? Please read and review!**


	8. The capture and unmasking

Chapter 8: The capture and unmasking

**(Shaggy, Sugie, Scooby and Daphne)**

Meanwhile, the three kids and Scooby continued their way down the deserted hallway, unaware that they were being followed by the second Skeleton Man.

"Like, this hallway is dark and spooky." Shaggy remarked as he and Scooby followed the girls with Daphne taking the lead.

"Just keep close and we'll be alright, Shag." Daphne replied.

Shaggy nodded as he, his sister and Scooby kept close with Daphne.

However, as they carry on down the hallway, they heard moaning coming from behind.

"Say, Norville, I hope you remembered to feed Scooby before we went out for the walk." Sugie commented as they heard the moaning. "I can hear his stomach growling."

"Romach? Rhat wasn't me!" Scooby replied.

"Like, it certainly wasn't either one of us either, Scoob." Shaggy said.

"If it wasn't you, Sugie or Scooby, then who could it be?" Daphne asked.

Her answer was answered by the growling coming from behind them, and as the kids turn and look, they spotted the Skeleton Man with his arms raised in a sinister fashion.

"Zoinks! The Skeleton Man!" Shaggy exclaimed as Scooby leaped into his arms in fright.

"Run!" Daphne shouted, and the four kids took off running down the hallway as the Skeleton Man gives chase.

As the main hallway in the basement runs parallel to the sides of the school building, it didn't take long for the four kids to encounter the second Skeleton Man walking towards them after a run around the school.

Looking back, they spotted the first Skeleton Man running towards them.

"You kids can't escape!" The first Skeleton Man said in a sinister voice.

"Jeepers! Now what?" Daphne asked as the four of them stayed close to each other as the two Skeleton Men closed in on them.

Seeing a nearby door, Shaggy said, "Like, that door may be our only chance!"

Without hesitation, the four raced over to that door and broke it down, crashing right into Fred, Velma and Madelyn.

"You guys found us!" Fred exclaimed as the dust cleared.

"Yeah, but the Skeleton Men are outside!" Shaggy said as he gestured towards the door.

Sure enough, the two Skeleton Men, joined by a third Skeleton Men, closed in on the kids in a menacing fashion.

"You kids meddled once too often!" The third Skeleton Man said as the trio of closed in on the kids.

"Uh, oh." Fred remarked as the kids stayed close to each other, unsure what to do now that the three Skeleton Men have cornered them.

"Yeah. We've warned you kids to stay out of this. Now it's time you pay the price!" The second Skeleton Man said.

As Shaggy and Scooby backed into a wall, Shaggy's back hits a secret switch of some sort, opening a secret door that connects to the room next to the small room.

"Hey, gang, we've got an escape!" Shaggy said excitingly as he and Scooby saw the secret door opening.

"Great! Let's get out of here!" Fred said, and the kids immediately took off.

"What the? Quick, you fools! Get those kids!" The first Skeleton Man barked as their would-be prisoners slipped away.

The three Skeleton Men immediately took off chasing the kids and Scooby, but in the rush in trying to race through the narrow secret doorway, the first two Skeleton Men got themselves stuck in the doorway and had to wiggle to get free before continuing.

**(Think about the chase scene in _The New Scooby-Doo Movies_  episode  _Guess Who's Knott Coming to Dinner_  where the gang were running away from the Ghost of Captain Moody and each took a room, with Shaggy and Scooby racing through a doorway in the same time and ended up getting stuck in the doorway for a brief while before getting free after some wiggling)**

"You knuckleheads! Stop the hold-up! Get going!" The third Skeleton Man exclaims as the two others tried to get through the doorway after getting stuck.

The three Skeleton Men soon managed to catch up with the gang as they chased them through the school's hallway.

"Quick, gang! To the stairway and let's get out of here!" Fred shouted, and the gang quickly find their way to the nearby stairway and raced up the stairs.

Soon on the main floor, the gang paused after running for a little while.

"I think we've lost them." Velma said as she tries to catch her breath.

"Yeah, like, let's get out of here while we still can." Shaggy added.

Nodding, the gang were about to make their way down the hallway to the main entrance when a voice said, "Not so fast, you meddlers!"

Turning to look, the gang discovered, to their surprise and horror, that the three Skeleton Men were right behind them with a long piece of rope that was used for the school's tug-of-war game, and that rope has been tied into a lasso, indicating that if the kids try to run away, the trio can simply catch them by lassoing them.

"You kids have meddled too much! Didn't your parents teach you to not play detective?" The first Skeleton Man asked.

"Well, my father's a lawyer and he doesn't trust the police much when it comes to solving crimes, so that's why we're here, and we demand to know what you're doing in our school!" Fred replied as Shaggy, Scooby, Sugie and Daphne looked on with worrying looks on their faces.

The Second Skeleton Man smiled in a way that provided no warmth or humour. "Oh, is that right? You kids should've minded your own business. This is none of your concern, right boss?"

"That's right." The first Skeleton Man replied. "Tie them up, boys!"

But just as the two Skeleton Men were about to comply with their leaders order, a voice suddenly shouted, "Hands up, you rats! We've got you covered!"

"Huh?" The three Skeleton Men exclaimed as they turned to look as they raised their hands.

Standing right behind them were a dozen police officers, a few men in suits and Mr. Glass, all of them with their guns drawn.

"The game's up, boys." Mr. Glass says. "You're under arrest for blackmail and grand larceny."

"Zoinks! Mr. Glass?" Shaggy asked as they watched the janitor, two men they instantly recognized as Sergeant Nelson McCormick, his partner Detective Nathaniel Hughes and two uniformed officers handcuffing the trio.

"Actually kids, it's Sergeant Josh Gilmore of the Special Robbery Task Force from the Major Crimes Division." The janitor, revealing himself to be an undercover police detective as he showed the gang his badge, replies just as another man arrives at the scene.

"Inspector Rogers, sir!" One of the officers exclaimed as the man in question arrives.

"Uh, oh." Shaggy said when he saw his father arrive. "Looks like Maggie and I are in big trouble."

Sure enough, Inspector Rogers was surprised when he saw his two children, Scooby and the four other kids at the scene.

"Norville, Maggie, you two better have a good explanation for this." Sam said with a clear tone of authority in his voice.

"Well, Inspector Rogers...I can explain this." Fred said nervously.

"Save it for later, Fred." Sam replied. Turning to the trio of Skeleton Men, he added, "In the meantime, boys, let's take a look at who these boneheads really are."

**(Think about the scene in The New Scooby-Doo Movies episode _The Dynamic Scooby-Doo Affair_ where Batman and Robin were about to unmask the two Skeleton Men and Batman made the remark that once they "unmasked the costumes, [they'll] be finding a couple of boneheads!")**

The three officers nodded as they yanked the masks off, revealing two sinister-looking figures and a third that was instantly recognized as the janitor that was supposed to have gone missing.

"Well, well, well, it's Jake 'The Weasel' Flass, wanted in Gotham City for fraud and conspiracy to commit murder and is the janitor that supposedly went missing last Friday night." McCormick remarked.

"And he's got connections in City Hall and Coolsville City Public Schools." Hughes added.

"That's right, and I demand a lawyer, right now!" The con man replied, indicating that he will not speak to the police.

* * *

**All will be revealed in the next chapter. Please read and review!**


	9. All is revealed and grounded

All is revealed and groundedChapter 9: All is revealed and grounded

After the unmasking, Inspector Rogers turned to the gang and said, "Now, kids, I'll like you all to explain what in heaven's name were you doing here at this time of the day."

"Uh, before we do that, Inspector Rogers, care to explain why we had an undercover police officer working here as a janitor?" Fred asked nervously.

"Why is that, Fred?" Sam asked.

"Uh, because if you don't, then explaining why we're here will be harder than it needs to be." Fred replied after gathering some courage.

The inspector turned to the detectives before they all nodded. Then, he turned back to face the kids.

"Very well." Sam nodded before motioning the detectives to take over.

"So kids, about two months ago, our gang intelligence unit received a tip on some suspicious activities going on at your school." Sergeant Gilmore began.

"Those suspicious activities were that of a jewel smuggling racket." McCormick said.

"Like, is that jewel smuggling racket connected to a string of toy thefts, sir?" Shaggy asked. "Because one of those crooks mentioned the Jupiter, which I read on the news was one of the jewels that was stolen recently, when they briefly met in the dumpster room downstairs earlier this morning."

"Plus their chief specifically asked them to grab a toy boat that has the missing diamond." Daphne added.

"That's right." McCormick nodded. "These crooks were using toys to smuggle their stolen diamonds."

"I get it." Fred said. "With our school's haunting legend on the Skeleton Men, and Jake, using his connections at City Hall, gets himself a job to work here as a janitor, as well as the fact that young kids plays with toys, they can set up their racket at our school without arousing much suspicion."

"And those shipping documents we found in one of the small classrooms in the basement had dates for when the stolen jewels were to be shipped and received and through which toy." Velma added as she pulls out the shipping documents she had discovered and kept in her person during the time she, Madelyn and Fred were locked in the small classroom in the basement and handed them over to the detectives.

Sergeant McCormick, Detective Hughes and Sergeant Gilmore took the documents and read.

Noting the names of the man responsible for the shipping were the aliases of one of the three men that were caught, as well as the items and shipping dates and method of shipping, they nodded.

Turning to the three crooks, who were wincing, Gilmore said, "Well boys, you sure are in a heap lot of trouble, and you've got witnesses who may show up to testify in your trial someday."

"Yeah." Gabe spat. "We would've gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for you blasted meddling kids and that stupid dog, too!"

"Hey!" Jake whispered urgently to his partner. "Don't you remember that you're supposed to remain silent all the time, you knucklehead?"

"Say, there's still one loose end that bothers me." Daphne remarked. "Who is their chief?"

"We're not talking." Jake replied. "You kids may have gotten us into this fine mess, but we're not letting you ruin our chief's plans!"

As the detectives prepare to have the documents secured in the evidence bag, Shaggy noticed handwriting on the back of one of them.

"Like, wait a minute, there's handwriting on the back of that document, sir." He said before grabbing the document in question and flipped it over to the handwriting side for his father and the three detectives to check out.

Reading the handwriting, the four noted that it was instructions on what to do to avoid suspicion, particularly with the assertion that kids aren't very intelligent.

However, it was the signature on the bottom that caught their interest.

"Stephen H. Ford, the finance manager for Senator Francis Jones' reelection campaign." Sam said.

Senator Francis Jones is the incumbent senator representing Ohio's 8th senatorial district, which comprises of the entire Coolsville County, the City of Coolsville and part of Hamilton County, in the state's Senate, and having been elected in 2004, he's currently up for reelection.

Turning to the three crooks, all of whom had shocked looks on their faces, Sam said, "Well, it looks like that maintaining silence did you no good at all, boys."

"Yeah, you boys better start thinking of making a deal with the district attorney if you want to get out of this light." McCormick nodded.

* * *

Soon, the criminals were escorted to the police cruisers to be taken into custody while the detectives prepare to submit the evidence the gang had provided.

However, it was clear that the gang weren't going to be rewarded for their efforts in solving the mystery, as their parents have arrived after being informed by Inspector Rogers and like him, they all had serious looks on their faces when they saw their children.

"Fred, what in heaven's name were you thinking?" Jefferson "Skip" Jones, a middle-aged man with blond hair and wearing a dark-coloured suit, asks his son as he, his wife and the other parents arrived.

"Dad, I was only trying to help the police figure out the strange going-ons at our school." Fred replied. "I thought you felt that the police shouldn't be fully trusted in solving cases like this."

"Yes, that is true." Skip nodded. "But why on earth did you risk your life and your friends' lives in playing detective?"

"You're father's right, dear." His wife Peggy replied. "You could've gotten yourself badly hurt or even killed in doing so."

"But we were only trying to help." Fred defended himself.

"Well, it wouldn't be worth it if you got yourself or any of your friends seriously hurt, Fred." Skip replied. "Didn't you already learn that detective work is dangerous during Mr. Hyde's rampage last year?"

During this time, Shaggy turned to his sister, Scooby and Daphne and muttered, "Like, I knew this was going to happen."

They nodded just as Skip said to the other parents, "We are so sorry about the trouble our son Fred has given you all."

"Well, it's not really your fault, Mr. and Mrs. Jones." Daphne's father George replied. "Daphne should know better by now the risks Sam's men have to undertake doing detective work."

"Right, and so does Velma and Madelyn." Velma's father Steve agreed.

"Detective work may seem like a game and may be a source of thrill and excitement, kids, but the reality is that it's very dangerous and you should know that playing detective could put not only your life at risk but also the life of others." Sam lectures.

"Yes, which is also why as of tomorrow, Fred, you're grounded for a month." Skip announced.

"Same goes for you, Velma, Madelyn." Velma's mother Cassandra added.

"During this time, Daphne, you're not permitted to leave the house unless you are to attend school." Daphne's mother Elizabeth said.

"I hope you and Maggie learned your lesson while grounded, Norville." Wendy said sternly to her children.

"What, but like, Mags and I didn't want to go with Fred in doing this in the first place, Mom." Shaggy protested.

"Well, you should have known better, Norville, and that goes to you, too, Scoobert." Another voice said.

Everyone turned to look towards the source of the voice at the remark, where they saw Scooby's parents walking towards them, with the voice being from his father.

"Rom? Dad? Ruh-roh." Scooby whimpered.

"Yes. Until you learn to behave, Scoobert, you're grounded for the month." Scooby's mother Momsy nodded before she and her husband proceed to take Scooby away.

"Scooby! No!" Shaggy cried as he tries to reach Scooby, only to be held back by his parents.

After watching Scooby getting onto his family car and watching it drove off with Dada behind the wheel, Shaggy and Sugie started wailing.

"Now calm down, Norville, Maggie." Sam said sternly. "If you two behave, you'll be able to see Scooby in a month."

With that, the four remaining parents took their children home.

* * *

**Uh oh. The gang's now grounded by each of their parents, and even Scooby's parents have arrived to pick him up.**

**What will happen next? Stay tuned, and please read and review!**


	10. A media leak and a deal

Chapter 10: A media leak and a deal

_September 30, 2008_

The next day, the Coolsville Gazette had the following headline on its front page:

"MEDDLING KIDS FOIL JEWEL SMUGGLING RING

Missing janitor turned out to be ringleader of jewel smuggling ring and leader of the 'Iwao Takamoto Middle School Skeleton Men'"

After taking the three unmasked criminals into custody, the police, executing a search warrant, searched through the school grounds and eventually located the stolen Jupiter diamond and the toy ship that was used to ship the diamond and is owned by the science teacher Ms. Stewart, who was determined to be clear from the involvement in the jewel smuggling racket.

Also, through the information found on the shipping documents, the police conducted several more raids across the city and recovered more of the stolen jewels and toys with more people arrested for their involvement in the racket.

However, the gang weren't celebrating the wrap-up of their first mystery, as they were subsequently grounded by their parents for their actions the day before.

**(Jones)**

Fred was in a somber mood ever since his father told him that he has been grounded for the month.

Alone in his bedroom, he tried to figure out ways to pass the time, other than working on his school homework.

He had already read most of the books in his bedroom, as well as the magazines on traps and mysteries, and his parents have also forbidden him to watch television, so it was a good question as to what to do

Glancing at the calendar, he sighed and wished that the time will fly by fast.

It was then that he remembered reading a case file template in his latest magazine on mysteries.

Figuring out what to do to pass the time, Fred grabbed a sheet of paper and a pencil and then sat in front of his desk to start writing.

**(Dinkley's)**

Madelyn was busy practicing some magic tricks in her shared bedroom with Velma, but Velma was already bored from watching her practicing her magic tricks.

Like Fred, it's also a good question as to what to do for Velma, as she has read most of the books in her bedroom, as well as her parents' old university textbooks.

"I sure hope the month goes by in a flash, Maddie." Velma lamented as she laid on her bed staring at the ceiling. "Because I'm getting quite bored."

"Perhaps a game of cards can help pass the time, sis?" Madelyn suggested.

"Great idea." Velma smiled before taking a pack of cards out from their toy box and went down to play a game of Go Fish. "You go first."

**(Blakes)**

Daphne really wished that her time of being grounded ends, because she is getting rather sick of being watched by the family butler Jenkins, who has been instructed by her parents to keep a sharp eye on her everyday whenever she sets foot outside the Blake property, while attending school.

During her time at home, she resorted to playing the piano and doing some drawing to pass the time, plus it's a good thing that Shaggy and Sugie lived next door to her, as she can still chat with them over the fence that separates the Blake property from the Rogers' property, although she still has to do so under the watchful eye of Jenkins while chatting with them in the front yard.

**(Rogers')**

Shaggy and his sister didn't quite mind being grounded, although they both wished that Scooby was still with them at home.

During his time at home, Shaggy will resort to doing some drawings, playing the guitar and piano to pass the time, while his sister will also do some drawings and play the piano, but like their friends, Shaggy and Sugie were hoping for the days to gone by fast.

However, the handwriting Shaggy had discovered on the back of one of the shipping documents was due to make its impact that will affect the course of an event that will shape the ongoing state legislative election campaign.

* * *

_October 1, 2008_

The next day, Coolsville was in uproar.

When Sam arrived at his office that morning for work, there was a copy of the Coolsville Gazette waiting for him on his desk.

When he picked up the paper, he was stunned by the headline, which read:

"SCANDAL AT THE STATEHOUSE

Senator Jones' re-election campaign finance manager named as top man involved in jewel-toy smuggling racket in latest twist to the case of the Iwao Takamoto Middle School Skeleton Men"

Just as he was going through the first three paragraphs of the news article, his office phone rang.

* * *

Several moments later, he tossed the newspaper onto the conference table during a meeting with the Major Crimes Division detectives and command staff from the Detective Bureau.

He wasted no time as everyone arrived in the meeting, as he got straight to the point when the meeting began.

"I don't want any excuses, gentlemen." Sam said with a clear tone of authority in his voice. "Who in heaven's name leaked the details of the content of those shipping documents to the press without authorization from me, Captain Stephenson or Press Relations?"

When Sam didn't receive an answer from the detectives, Captain Stephenson said, "Inspector Rogers got called over to the chief's office shortly after he arrived at his office this morning, and the chief was disappointed about his being kept out of the loop about that very detail on the case and that he received a phone call from the senator, who complained about his campaign finance manager being regularly harassed by the media as a result of that leaked detail."

"Yes. Now I want know who was responsible for that media leak." Sam nodded.

Just then, there was a phone vibration from one of the detectives and Sergeant McCormick got up from his seat.

"I apologize, sir." He said to Sam when he saw the caller ID on his phone. "It's Alvin Wilkins, the prosecutor assigned to the case, calling."

"I've got a hunch he must be calling about the media leak." Sam replied. "See what he wants, Sergeant."

"Yes, sir." McCormick nodded as he left the room to take the call.

As McCormick took the call, Sam and Stephenson turned back to face the others.

"You all should know that leaking the details of an ongoing investigation to the media without clearance from Media Relations is against the rules." Stephenson said sternly. "We might be fighting rot in the department, but that doesn't justify leaking details of an ongoing investigation without clearance from Media Relations."

Before he could continue, McCormick returned to the room, and his face looked animated.

"So was it about the leak?" Captain Stephenson asked McCormick when he returned.

"Yes and no." John replied. "He did mention the media leak, but that wasn't the reason he called. He needs me, Nat and Lieutenant Waddel over at his office."

"Why's that?" Sam asked.

"One of those three Skeleton Men wants to make a deal, sir."

* * *

After leaving the district attorney's office later that afternoon, Sam found himself with a lot on his plate to go through.

He had to inform the man on the ninth floor on the case's latest development and the deal, and he still has to figure out who was responsible for the media leak.

For some reason, though, deep down he felt that he probably will be thanking the man responsible for the leak later.

Gabe was the one that offered to make a deal, and he agreed to provide the names of the people involved in the ring to the District Attorney's office.

Then, surprisingly, his other partner that adopted the disguise with him and Jake, a fellow with the name of Pierre, agreed to go along with making the deal with District Attorney Jaffe and Assistant DA Wilkins.

As Sam returned to his office a few moments later, he saw a janitor leaving.

After opening his office door, he walked in and the first thing he noticed was an envelope lying on his desk.

Picking up the envelope, he saw a falcon symbol on it before stepping out briefly.

"Krebs, did someone step into my office while I was gone?" He asked Lieutenant Krebs.

"Ah, only the janitor, sir." Krebs replied.

"Okay." Sam nodded as he stepped back into his office and looked at the envelope again before thinking to himself, "He's getting good at this."

Opening the envelope, he found a note from a friend that said, "Heard about the bust you did at Iwao Takamoto Middle School yesterday, and thought I'd do my part in ensuring that those crooks gets taught a good lesson they'd never forget."

The note was unsigned, but Sam already knew who the "janitor" really was.

* * *

**I know this is short, folks, but I thought I want to keep the plot rolling.**

**Also, one more chapter to go!**


	11. The conditions and the adventure begins!

Chapter 11: The conditions and the adventure begins!

_October 2, 2008_

That day, the latest twist to the Iawo Takamoto Middle School Skeleton Men case came when Senator Jones abruptly withdraws his bid for re-election.

It came after two of the crooks involved in the racket agreed to make a deal with the district attorney, in which they named the key people behind the jewel smuggling racket and handed over key evidence linking those people to the racket, such as recorded phone calls, email messages and documentation, in exchange for a reduced sentence.

The names on the list of individuals involved in the racket included a handful of City Hall officials, including Senator Jones' aide and his campaign finance manager.

The list also named a corrupt senior member of the police department as being involved in helping covering up an expense scandal, in which the mayor canceled a light rail expansion project just as the foundations for one of the new stations was being formed and billed taxpayers with knocking down the unfinished station structures.

With those two crooks making the deal and exposing the involvement of those public officials in the racket, the finance manager in Senator Jones' re-election campaign find himself in the hot seat, and with a lot of questions from the latest developments and twists in the case, the senator found himself unable to dodge questions related to his involvement, which led to his decision to withdraw his bid for re-election.

That early afternoon, Inspector Sam Rogers was in his office signing the case files when there was a knock on the door.

In came Deputy Chief JP Miller, the Director of the Detective Bureau who succeeded now-Assistant Chief Derek Harewood to the post but has bad blood with Sam.

"Well played, Rogers." Miller said after knocking the door, and Sam can hear a tone of bitterness in his voice. "Well played."

"What can I do for you, Chief?" Sam replied evenly as he looked up and met Miller's face. "Don't tell me you're here to tell me that my way of running the bureau isn't the way forward and that the old ways are better."

"Congratulations, Rogers." Miller huffed. "You've just brought down another one of your own."

As it turned out, Miller was one of the senior police officers named as being involved in the racket.

"Well, what can I say?" Sam shrugged. "The likes of you in this department never fulfill your duty of upholding the law by ignoring the weak and protecting the powerful, particularly the ones that uses criminal means to stay in power. The citizens are clearly sick of this trend continuing, especially with the latest development of the case."

"Oh, is that right?" Miller retorted. "Those meddling kids should have minded their own business, and did you realize that they almost got killed while playing detective at their school?"

"Yes, I am aware of that, Chief." Sam replied evenly as he crossed his arms. "However, can you help it if those kids were curious on what was going on at their school? I'm sure you won't be able to focus much at school if you learn that something suspicious is going on at school."

Sam then stood up and came to be face-to-face with the former Internal Affairs investigator that investigated his actions in the Incident of '85 as he continued.

"In fact, thanks to the likes of you, this police department has became a laughing stock for all other departments in the state, and the fact that the police required the assistance of a bunch of 'meddling kids' to make a major discovery in the case makes us a bigger joke." He continued. "Somehow, I'm glad those kids stepped in when they did, because that certainly shows us what is wrong with this department."

"You think you have won, Rogers?" Miller asked. "You think this is over? This city is my city, and the officers of this department? They all work for me, born and raised in Coolsville, and none of them belongs to outsiders like you! Actually, more like, this department doesn't belong to insiders corrupted by the influence of outsiders!"

"This city doesn't belong to you, either, Chief." Sam replied evenly. "The people makes the choice on who runs this city, and they expect officers to be fulfilling their duty in upholding the law and are held accountable for their actions if they don't fulfill their duty. You don't own us, and we don't work for slackers who does nothing to uphold the law."

" _Us_?" Miller growled. "You're not one of us! You've lost your place in this city when you shot Officer Beyak and got transferred to New York as a result of your irresponsible actions! Why can't you just transfer back to New York, where you belong?"

"Because I choose not to." Sam replied defiantly. "Even if I were to be given the chance to transfer back to New York, I won't. This city is my home, and is the home of my children and their friends."

He then took a deep breath before he continued, speaking in a stern voice, "I was sworn in as an officer to enforce the law and to make things better for my children and future generations."

With his arms folded, Sam then continued.

"If you ask me again about that shooting, I'd say that it was a good shooting and that I'll do it again." He continued defiantly. "Beyak shouldn't have raided that warehouse with her husband that night, and after my transfer back to Coolsville, I've promised myself that I'm not going to let the likes of you, Beyak, Strickland and Gosnell ruin this city."

He then sat back into his seat in a manner that indicates that he has no intention in continuing with the discussion.

Miller was about to say something when Sergeant McCormick's knock on the door signals him that he has got ten seconds to leave Sam's office before he takes action.

As Sam resumes his work, he found himself unable to keep his children out of his mind, and he was now wondering if he and the other parents were too harsh on them.

* * *

Later that evening, as he prepares to head home, the telephone rang.

"Hello?" He asked as he answered the phone after noting that it was Skip Jones calling.

Pause.

"Yes, I am aware of that, Mr. Jones. Why?"

Another pause.

"A case file, eh?"

Another pause.

"Alright. How about I meet with you tomorrow at your office to discuss this?"

A pause with a nod.

"Certainly. I've got a feeling we may have to meet with the others tomorrow to discuss the matter."

* * *

_October 3, 2008_

That afternoon, the kids and Scooby waited outside the closed door to the kitchen at Shaggy's place as the parents held a meeting inside.

"I wonder what's this parent meeting about." Fred remarked.

"I don't know." Daphne shrugged. "I only hope that we're not in bigger trouble."

"Yeah, like, it's bad enough that Scoob has to stay with his parents during this month of grounding." Shaggy added.

Their conversation was interrupted when the door opened, and out came their parents.

"So...What's the news?" Fred asked. "Are we still grounded? What have we done this time?"

"This time, nothing serious, Frederick." Peggy replied to her son. "However, your father discovered a case file on the floor under the doorway to your room yesterday while he was on his way to work."

Velma, Madelyn, Daphne, Shaggy, Sugie and Scooby all turned to Fred, who looked embarrassed when he remembered that he had forgotten to completely shut the window in his room that morning, resulting in the breeze blowing the case file he had written earlier off his desk and onto the floor.

Before he had a chance to enquire, Skip said, "Yes. I did pick it up and was completely taken aback on the details of the case you've laid out, including observations from the case. I had a hard time believing that you had written the file, even though I recognized your handwriting, Fred."

"And then, out of curiosity, your father and I looked through your room and found similarly-written case files on a notebook." Peggy continued. "You sure seem keen on pinpointing Red Herring as the culprit in each of your mysteries, huh?"

Fred was shocked by the revelation, but Velma filled him in by asking, "So, what was the meeting about?"

"After Skip made the discovery, he called Sam and they discussed the files." Her father Steve replied. "They then decided to call a meeting with the rest of us, and after some discussions, we've decided that your punishment was too harsh."

"So, does that mean we're no longer grounded?" Sugie asked.

"Not quite." Wendy replied. "Instead, you're now only grounded for the remainder of the week, and once that has ended, you kids have the freedom of solving mysteries, but  **only**  if you follow the following conditions."

"Sure, Mom." Shaggy nodded. "Like, what are they?"

"First off: Until they turn 11, Madelyn and Maggie are not allowed to be involved." Sam began.

"Second: Your activity is limited to be at Dawsburg. The rest of the city is completely  **off-limits**  until you all start attending high school after turning 14." George continued.

"Third: You must spend at least two hours per week here at the Rogers house for Inspector Rogers to teach you the safety responsibilities related to the field of detective work, starting next week." Skip added.

"Fourth: Unless absolutely necessary, there will be no split-ups." Steve continued. "And even if you kids do have to split-up, stay in groups of two or three at all times. Never go alone."

"Fifth: You boys will be looking after the girls and be making sure that nothing terrible happens to them." Wendy added. "Do not split-up through the gender lines, unless Daphne and Velma decides to go with one of the boys."

"And finally, Daphne." Elizabeth concluded. "Jenkins will be keeping a sharp eye on you and your friends regularly. We don not want to risk getting you kidnapped by a criminal or any of you getting hurt."

"Is it all understood?" Sam asked, addressing all of the kids and Scooby.

"Yes, Mom and Dad." The kids all replied to their parents.

* * *

_October 20, 2008_

It has been almost a month since the gang have finished their punishment. They were quite happy to be together and doing mystery-solving again.

After catching a couple of mysteries, both of which turned out to be the doing of Red Herring and his gang doing some scares to the neighbourhood kids, the tree house officially became the gang's new headquarters for mystery-solving.

In addition to using it as a place to meet together and do homework and study, the gang will also discuss their cases.

It was also during this time that Shaggy had gotten a job as the neighbourhood's newspaper delivery boy. Every morning, he will wake up early and find a stack of newspapers waiting for him on the front lawn of his house.

Riding his red bicycle, he will deliver the paper to everyone in the neighbourhood and then return home for breakfast.

That trend will stop, abruptly, when one day, a monster decides to steal his red bicycle.

Well, that's for another story.

* * *

**So this is it, folks! The adventures of the Scooby-Doo Detective Agency has officially began!**

**The adventures of the gang continues in _Coolsville Central: Two Silent Witnesses_. Please read and review!**


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